USATF’s new COO to ‘advocate to the masters community’
Mike McNees: our new go-to guy?
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USATF CEO Doug Logan announced yesterday that Michael A. McNees will be the chief operating officer of the organization. He’ll “supervise USATF’s administration, operations and marketing departments; coordinate long-range planning; act as the principal staff coordinator and advocate to the masters community; and be the chief staff liaison to the new Board of Directors, assisting in the establishment of procedures and policies and coordinating Board training.” He starts March 1. Also notable: “Earlier this year, McNees, 53, began training again for masters competition in the 200 and 400 meters.” Cool! We get to nag Mike about masters issues while getting into our blocks. But don’t mention the S-word: Sarasota.
Like his boss, who saw one of his own gigs go sour, Mike McNees has his own troubled job history. In January 2007, he was forced to resign as city manager of Sarasota, Florida. Opinion had turned against him when three city commissioners said he had to go. Here’s another story about his surprise resignation.
Was Doug Logan aware of this? Uhm, yeah. In fact, Mike hired Doug for an arts job in Sarasota. So this latest move appears to be Doug paying back the favor.
The local Sarasota paper reported:
When outgoing Sarasota City Manager Mike McNees interviewed Doug about filling the scheduling holes left by the departure of Van Wezel executive director John Wilkes in November, it was the business acumen, not rock ‘n’ roll, that sealed the deal.
McNees actually found himself demoralized by Doug’s contemporary vocabulary; after all, McNees had just learned of a study reporting that the average human being’s capacity for engaging new music trends was neurologically wired to peak at age 35.
“He totally humiliated me with his currency in these issues,” says McNees. “I’d justified my lack of interest in new music as biological, not generational.”
Also like Doug Logan — or perhaps Doug’s inspiration — Mike McNees kept a blog as Sarasota city manager. It’s still online. And when Mike moved to a similar job in Idaho last year, he started a blog there as well. (But the link is dead.)
Was McNees fairly treated in Sarasota? Hard to say. But I have strong suspicion that he was the victim of an old boys’ and girls’ network that didn’t like some of his decisions, such as firing John Wilkes, executive director of the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, which the city built and operates.
Mike noted this in a press release on his blog:
As you are no doubt aware, recent internal audits, conducted independently from the operation of the City Manager’s Agency, detailed a number of discrepancies in reporting and misuses of resources by Mr. Wilkes on such things as vehicle mileage records, outside employment, and travel and entertainment expense reimbursements. While some have argued that each of these things should be considered “minor”, in their sum total they represent a consistent pattern of disregard for the most fundamental responsibility of a public official, which is the proper stewardship of the public assets with which we are entrusted.
Now just bring that same sensibility to USATF and you’ll be cooking with gas, Mike!
After Sarasota, Mike went to work in Blaine County, Idaho. According to this story from June 2007, Mike’s biggest thrill was seeing a moose. And in this story, Mike says he’s just happy to get away from hurricane country.
Back in December 2003, Mike also was one of several people sued by a lady who charged sex discrimination for being denied some jobs or losing a job in Collier County, Florida.
A newspaper article mentioned this:
(Diane) Flagg’s lawsuit alleges that her gender was a motivating factor in her not being selected as Emergency Services Administrator in both 1998 and 2000, and in her removal as EMS director in 2001.
Flagg was removed from her position as part of an EMS reorganization drawn up by former County Manager Tom Olliff, former Assistant County Manager Mike McNees, and former Emergency Services Administrator Tom Storrar. All three are expected to testify in the trial.
But the upshot was Flagg lost. A federal jury said she was full of crap and sided with the county. So McNees doesn’t have that hanging over his head.
Somewhat revealing in the announcement of McNees as new COO is the failure to note who Mike is replacing. The previous COO (for about five years) was Jim Elias. Why not mention Jim? Could it be that USATF leaders didn’t like him?
As TheFinalSprint.com reported recently:
An insider in the USATF National Office in Indianapolis claims, “The board for years has been going after Jim (Elias), trying to [have] him fired. When they call our travel department a day before they’re going to travel and insist on traveling on a specific airline, and having an $1,100.00 ticket instead of a $300.00 ticket, and Jim says, ‘No,’ they reply by saying, ‘You are not the person who is can tell us how to spend our money. It is our committee.’ And, trust me, this is something that is going to be scrutinized extremely closely, and it’s basically going to be [stopped] by Doug [Logan].”
Here’s the USATF release, in case the link dies:
INDIANAPOLIS — USA Track & Field CEO Doug Logan on Thursday named Michael A. McNees the Chief Operating Officer of the organization. As COO, McNees will be the principal deputy to the CEO; supervise USATF’s administration, operations and marketing departments; coordinate long-range planning; act as the principal staff coordinator and advocate to the masters community; and be the chief staff liaison to the new Board of Directors, assisting in the establishment of procedures and policies and coordinating Board training. He will officially join USATF on March 1.
Currently the County Administrator of Blaine County, Idaho, McNees has two decades of experience as a high-level administrator and COO, overseeing budgets in excess of $600 million and managing organizations with as many as 1,400 employees.
McNees was a three-time varsity letterman for the Indiana University track team and has an MBA from Louisiana Tech University. Specializing in the 400m hurdles, he earned all-conference honors and was a Big Ten team champion as well as a member of IU’s school and Big Ten meet record-setting 4x400m relay. As a graduate student at Louisiana Tech, he coached the school’s sprinters and hurdlers. Earlier this year, McNees, 53, began training again for masters competition in the 200 and 400 meters.
“Bringing Michael McNees on board is the first, crucial step for remaking USATF as a highly functioning business,” Logan said. “He has a unique blend of qualities that makes him extraordinarily well-suited for the particular challenges of this new role. He truly understands our sport on every level, and most important, he understands how to make even the most complex public bodies function on the highest levels.”
“I am thrilled to take on this new challenge, which will enable me to apply my professional skills to the sport that has been so instrumental in making me the person I am today,” McNees said. “I am energized about the possibilities for USA Track & Field, and I look forward to having a role in fulfilling Doug’s vision for the sport.”
Prior to his position in Idaho, which he assumed in June 2007, McNees was City Manager of Sarasota, Florida, from 2001-2007. As the top administrator for Money Magazine’s 2000 “Best Small City in America”, he oversaw a budget of approximately $140 million and managed operations ranging from the Sarasota Police Department to the Ed Smith Stadium, the spring training home of the Cincinnati Reds. He also was Executive Director for the city’s Downtown Community Redevelopment Agency, with nearly $1 billion worth of redevelopment projects under construction or in progress during his tenure.
He served Collier County, Florida — with 1,400 employees and a $611 million budget — in various capacities from 1984-2001, including as Assistant County Manager/COO from 1995 to 2001. As Utilities Administrator from 1994-’95, he managed a 200-employee, 75,000-customer utility, and as Management and Budget Director from 1989-’94 presided over the administration of a $291 million county budget.
McNees’ professional and community activities include serving four separate one-year terms as President of the Naples Players, Inc., where he helped guide to completion a successful $6.8 million capital construction campaign and startup of a two-stage theater complex. He is a former board member and first vice president of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Collier County and participated with Sarasota County’s Committee for Economic Development. He was a founding member of the Sarasota Actors Workshop and has been a volunteer varsity high school basketball coach.
Only one question: What does it mean to “advocate to the masters community”?
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Mike’s local paper in Idaho reports his impending departure:
http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=2005124080
All of this USATF CEO / COO
yadda yadda reminds one of a bunch of ninth-grade girls gossping about whois and who isn’t in their “proud-crowd” group.
We all know that the upper layers of any organization or group is just an over-politicized, ineffectual group of opportunists and do no actual good for the rank and file membership. USATF is no exception. Let’s focus our attention on athlete accomplishments, training, meet info. and other like issues that really interest those of us at the grass-roots level.
Do the rest of you really care whether McNees was forced to resign from his job or any of the crap about his “artist” girlfriend.
It will always be business as usual at the “real” level.
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